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Chicago Public Schools

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Chicago Public Schools
Location
Chicago, Illinois
United States
District information
TypePublic School District
MottoEducate. Inspire. Transform.
Established1837[1]
SuperintendentBarbara Byrd-Bennett
Schools681 (2012-2013)[2]
Students and staff
Students404,151 (2011-2012)[2]
Teachers23,290 (2012-2013)[2]
Student–teacher ratio20.0 to 1 (elementary schools; 2008-09) 24.6 to 1 (high schools; 2008-09)[2]
Other information
Websitewww.cps.edu

Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons,[3] in Chicago, Illinois and is the third largest school district in the U.S. (List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment).[2] For the 2012-2013 school year, CPS reported overseeing 681 schools including 472 elementary schools, 106 high schools, 96 charter schools, and 7 contract schools.[4]

Chicago Public Schools serves 400,000 students.[2] Students attend a particular school based on their area of residence except for charter schools and selective enrollment schools. The school system reported a graduation rate of 65.4 percent for the 2012-2013 school year.[5] Unlike most school systems, CPS is headed by a chief executive officer rather than a superintendent.

CPS reported an average of 20 pupils per teacher in elementary schools and 24.6 pupils per teacher in high school. Approximately 85% of CPS students are Latino or African-American. The student body includes 87% from low-income homes and 12.2% of students are reported to have limited English proficiency. Average salaries for 2008-2009 were $74,839 for teachers and $120,659 for administrators.[4] For the 2013-2014 school year, CPS reported 41,579 staff positions including 22,519 teachers and 545 principals.[4] In 2012 CPS reported a budget of $5.11 billion with $2.273 billion from local sources, $1.619 billion from the State of Illinois and $0.977 billion from the U.S. Federal Government.[4] Per student spending was reported at $13,078 in 2010.[4]

History

As Chicago was started as a trading outpost in the early 1800s, it took several years for a citywide school system with adequate funding and instructional personnel to emerge. As early as 1848 during the first term of the 10th Mayor of Chicago, James Hutchinson Woodworth, the city's need for a Public School System was recognized by the city council, and a higher educational standard for the system was stated by the Mayor, both to reflect his philosophy as a former teacher, and to add an attribute to Chicago that would continue to attract productive citizens.[6] In 1922, the School Board voted unanimously to change policy that allocated library access based on color, "[extending] the same privileges to Race children to enter all the libraries as the white children enjoy", but maintaining segregated schools and specifying that "in each branch library all employees should belong to the race which attended the particular school".[7]

School closures

From 2001 to 2008, CPS, under Arne Duncan's leadership, closed dozens of elementary and high schools. University of Chicago researchers found that most of the students that transferred as a result of the closures did not improve their performance. New schools created from the conversions include charter schools and five military schools, three of which have Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs.[8][9] In response to CPS's announcements in 2013 that it was considering closing nearly 200 schools,[10] many Chicago parents, students, teachers and community activists voiced their opposition through the media and at hearings around the city.[11][12][13][14][15] In addition, several Illinois lawmakers, including chairman of the Senate education committee William Delgado (D-Chicago), pushed for a moratorium on school closings in CPS, citing "the disproportion[ate] effect on minority communities, the possibility of overcrowding and safety concerns for students who will have to travel further to class."[16] On May 22, 2013, the school board voted to close 50 elementary schools.[17]

2012 strike

In September 2012, CPS teachers went on a nine-day strike, walking off the job for the first time in 25 years. The work stoppage, which began during the second week of the 2012 school year, culminated with a march on City Hall.[18][19] Striking teachers voiced complaints about pay, teacher evaluations, and benefits, as well as general concerns about the neglect of the city's public school system.[20] Soon after the strike, CEO Jean-Claude Brizard stepped down from his position.

Demographics

For the 2011-2012 school year, CPS reported having 404,151 students including 24,232 in preschool, 29,594 in kindergarten, 236,452 in grades 1-8, and 113,873 in grades 9-12. Latinos were 44.1% of the student body, African-Americans made up 41.6%, 8.8% were categorized as white, 3.4% Asian/Pacific Islander and 0.4% as Native American.[4] Chicago Public Schools were the most segregated among large city school systems, according to research by the New York Times in 2012.[21]

Schools

Headquarters in the Chicago Loop
Lindblom Math & Science Academy
Roberto Clemente Community Academy
Lincoln Park High School
File:Jonescollegeprep.jpg
Jones College Prep High School

CPS is a vast system of primary, secondary, and disability schools confined to Chicago's city limits. This system is the second largest employer in Chicago.[22] Most schools in the district, being prekindergarten-8th grade, elementary, middle, or secondary, have attendance boundaries restricting student enrollment to within a given area. A school may elect to enroll students outside their attendance boundaries if there is space or if it has a magnet cluster program. Full magnet schools are open to student enrollment citywide provided that applicants meet a level of high academic standards. Magnets offer a variety of academic programs with various focuses, such as agriculture, fine arts, international baccalaureate, Montessori, Math, Literature, Paideia programs, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). STEM Magnet Academy is the first elementary school in the state of Illinois, and among the first in the nation, to offer a curriculum that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.[citation needed] The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) is the system's only audition based performing and visual arts high school. Chicago was the largest city in the country without a public high school for the arts until the establishment of ChiArts in 2009.

Selective enrollment

Elementary schools

The school system contains two levels of elementary-middle school programs which make selective admission only.

Lenart Regional Gifted Center

Regional gifted centers have an area of focus (such as math and science) and require one type of assessment. Classical schools, in contrast to regional gifted centers, take a liberal arts approach focusing on all areas. Classical school applications thus require a different type of assessment.

Secondary schools

At the secondary level, CPS operates ten selective enrollment high schools.[23] Selective Enrollment high schools work on a point system out of 900 points:,[24]

  • 300 points for the 7th grade standardized testing (ISAT)
  • 300 points for the entrance exam (tested in vocabulary, literature, math)
  • 300 points for 7th grade grades (A=75, B=50, C=25; D and below=0)

Competition is fierce, and many factors decide whether students are admitted or not:

  • Ranking: Students are asked to rank their top 6 high schools—the higher a school is on the list, the higher the chance a high school will choose to admit a student
  • Points from the point system mentioned above

Other high school options

In addition to the selective enrollment high schools, a number of other possibilities exist for high school students. These include military academies, career academies, and charter schools. Lincoln Park High School and Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center are neighborhood "magnet" high schools, which also offer various honors programs to students citywide. More specialized options, such as the Chicago High School for the Arts and the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences are also available.

Military academies

Alt text
Entrance to Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville

In partnership with various Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs, six high schools are operated as public military academies.

Career academies

Dunbar Vocational Career Academy

Some high schools have been designated as "Career Academies". According to CPS, these schools have "intensified resources to prepare students for careers in business/finance, communications, construction, health, hospitality/food service, manufacturing, performing arts, and transportation. Vocational shops, science labs, broadcast journalism labs and media/computer centers help students gain 'hands on' experience."[25]

Charter schools

Chicago has a growing number of charter schools which receive the majority of their operating budgets from the same tax sources as CPS. Charters in Chicago receive 10-25% less public funding than traditional schools, although most studies show their student achievement and performance metrics to be significantly better than traditional CPS results.[dubious – discuss][citation needed][26][27]

Operations

The structure of Chicago Public Schools was redefined after Mayor Richard M. Daley convinced the Illinois General Assembly to place CPS under the mayor's control. Illinois school districts are generally governed by locally-elected school boards, where each district board hires a superintendent, who in turn hires administrators such as principals, who then must be approved by the school board. In contrast, CPS is headed by a Chief Executive Officer and school board appointed by the mayor. CPS is headquartered in the 125 South Clark Street building in the Chicago Loop. Barbara Byrd-Bennett is the current CEO of Chicago Public Schools.[28] The main offices of Chicago Public Schools are located in the 125 South Clark Street building in the Chicago Loop.[29] The 20 story building, managed by MB Real Estate, and originally built as the Commercial National Bank,[30] has 570,910 square feet (53,039 m2) of space.[31]

Performance

The April 21, 2006 issue of the Chicago Tribune revealed a study released by the Consortium on Chicago School Research that stated that 6 of every 100 CPS freshmen would earn a bachelor's degree by age 25. 3 in 100 black or Latino men would earn a bachelor's degree by age 25. The study tracked Chicago high school students who graduated in 1998 and 1999. 35% of CPS students who went to college earned their bachelor's degree within six years, below the national average of 64%.[32] Chicago has a history of high dropout rates, with around half of students failing to graduate for the past 30 years. Criticism is directed at the CPS for inflating its performance figures. Through such techniques as counting students who swap schools before dropping out as transfers but not dropouts, it publishes graduation claims as high as 71%. Nonetheless, throughout the 1990s actual rates seem to have improved slightly, as true graduation estimates rose from 48% in 1991 to 54% in 2004.[33] In 1987, Education Secretary William J. Bennett called the Chicago Public Schools system the worst in the nation.[34] In September 2011, the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) published a report on the school system's performance over the course of 30 years of reform.[35] While the report evaluated three decades of reform, it measured the progress of such policies by "analyzing trends in elementary and high school test scores and graduation rates over the past 20 years." As a result of this analysis, the authors of the report highlighted five of their central conclusions:

  • "Graduation rates have improved dramatically, and high school test scores have risen; more students are graduating without a decline in average academic performance."
  • "Math scores have improved incrementally in the elementary/middle grades, while elementary/middle grade reading scores remained fairly flat for two decades."
  • "Racial gaps in achievement have steadily increased, with white students making slightly more progress than Latino students, and African American students falling behind all other groups."
  • "Despite progress, the vast majority of CPS students have academic achievement levels that are far below where they need to be to graduate ready for college."
  • "The publicly reported statistics used to hold schools and districts accountable for making academic progress are not accurate measures of progress."

See also

References

  1. ^ "Schools and Education". Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Chicago Public Schools - Stats and Facts". Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved 2013-05-26. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  3. ^ "CITY OF CHICAGO SD 299: District Profile". Iirc.niu.edu. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Stats and facts About CPS, CPS
  5. ^ CPS press release
  6. ^ Mayor Woodworth's Inaugural Addresses
  7. ^ "No Jim Crow in District Libraries". Chicago Defender. 11 February 1922. p. 3. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ^ Sam Dillon, "Report Questions Duncan’s Policy of Closing Failing Schools ," "The New York Times," October 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/education/29schools.html
  9. ^ "A Look at Arne Duncan’s VIP List of Requests at Chicago Schools and the Effects of his Expansion of Charter Schools in Chicago", "Democracy Now!," March 26, 2010 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/26/a_look_at_arne_duncans_vip
  10. ^ "193 Chicago elementary schools not safe from closing". Chicago Sun-Times. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  11. ^ "Call for action against CPS school closings".
  12. ^ Bellware, Kim (29 January 2013). "CPS School Closing Hearing: Tensions Boil Over In Heated Meeting Later Called 'A Disaster'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  13. ^ "CPS School Closings: Hearing Heats Up Ahead Of Release Of Preliminary Closure List". Huffington Post. 13 February 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Parents, teachers tout rising test scores to save Armstrong".
  15. ^ "Why close Lewis when CPS is spending millions on renovations, advocates say".
  16. ^ Street, Clout (11 March 2013). "Lawmakers threaten to push CPS closings moratorium". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  17. ^ "School Board Votes to Close 49 Elementary Schools, 1 High School". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  18. ^ "Chicago teachers union rally | Photos". Time Out Chicago Kids. 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  19. ^ "Chicago teachers vote to suspend strike". CNN. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  20. ^ Pearsen, Michael (11 September 2012). "Chicago teachers strike; students and parents scramble". CNN. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  21. ^ Ford Fessenden, "A Portrait of Segregation in New York City’s Schools" The New York Times, May 11, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/11/nyregion/segregation-in-new-york-city-public-schools.html?ref=education
  22. ^ "Chicago's largest employers". ChicagoBusiness. Crain Communications, Inc. 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
  23. ^ Chicago Public Schools Office of Academic Enhancement, "Selective Enrollment High Schools", Available online at http://cpsmagnet.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=72696&type=d&rn=5261203, Cited September 21, 2009
  24. ^ Scoring Rubric: Selective Enrollment High Schools
  25. ^ Chicago Public Schools, "Career Academies", Available online at http://www.cps.edu/Schools/High_schools/Pages/Careeracademy.aspx, Cited September 28, 2009
  26. ^ http://www.isbe.state.il.us/SCSC/pdf/biennial-rpt-0314.pdf
  27. ^ CREDO report, Stanford U
  28. ^ Jean Claude Brizard out as CPS chief
  29. ^ "Board meeting schedule." Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved on November 7, 2009.
  30. ^ 1910 photograph of the Adams Street entrance during the 1910 Triennial Conclave of the Knights Templar Grand Encampment
  31. ^ "125 South Clark Street." MB Real Estate. Retrieved on November 7, 2009.
  32. ^ "Topic Galleries". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  33. ^ "Consortium on Chicago School Research finds graduation rates lower than typically reported". Consortium on Chicago School Research. University of Chicago. 2005. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  34. ^ New York Times: Schools in Chicago Are Called the Worst By Education Chief (November 8, 1987)
  35. ^ "Trends in Chicago's Schools Across Three Eras of Reform" (PDF). Retrieved 16 March 2013.
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